Tom Atkins (actor)
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | occupation = Actor | spouse = Garn Stephens (divorced) Janice Atkins (1986–present) | children = Taylor Atkins | yearsactive = 1963-present }} Tom Atkins (born November 13, 1935) is an American television and film actor. He is primarily known for his work in the horror film and thriller film genres, having worked with writers and directors such as Shane Black, William Peter Blatty, John Carpenter, Fred Dekker, Richard Donner, Stephen King, and George A. Romero. He is also a familiar face to mainstream viewers, often playing police officers. Atkins has starred in numerous films including The Fog (1980), The Ninth Configuration (1980), Escape from New York (1981), Creepshow (1982), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Night of the Creeps (1986), Lethal Weapon (1987), Maniac Cop (1988), Two Evil Eyes (1990), Bob Roberts (1992), Striking Distance (1993), and Drive Angry (2011). Biography Early life Atkins was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Dorothy E. (née Williams) and George C. Atkins.Tom Atkins Biography (1935-) During his childhood, Atkins was a fan of horror and science fiction, one of his best loved films being the Howard Hawks classic The Thing from Another World.Atkins, Tom, The Internet Movie Database, accessed 17 April 2011. He initially had no desire to be an actor. His father worked in a Steel Mill in Pennsylvania and Atkins assumed that he would follow in his father's footsteps. He then enlisted in the United States Navy and "noticed that the officers lived great, but that was only because they had gone to college,"Fallows, Tom, Tom Atkins Interview (Night of the Creeps), Classic-Horror Web Zine 14 October 2009. and so, after leaving the Navy, Atkins signed up for college where he met a girl who was involved in a theatre group. Tom attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and was a member of the Gamma Phi Fraternity. He says: "I was in my 20s already when I got interested in acting and I liked it a lot." Career Atkins began his career in stage plays both on-and-off Broadway, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. His first movie role was in The Detective, which starred Frank Sinatra. Talking of his experience working on his first feature film – and with Sinatra – Atkins says: "It was great! It was intimidating and frightening and scary but Frank was great. He was very easy to work with. He didn't like to do a lot of takes. But then it's not like we were doing Shakespeare." After many appearances in TV series and movies, Atkins began working within the horror and science fiction genres. He starred in two films directed by John Carpenter: the 1980 ghost story The Fog and the 1981 science fiction thriller Escape from New York. His next role (this time a leading role) was the third instalment of the Halloween franchise, the Carpenter-produced Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). He completed further work with George A. Romero, appearing in three of the director's projects: the anthology Creepshow (1982), written by Stephen King; the anthology Two Evil Eyes (1990), based on tales by Edgar Allan Poe; and Bruiser (2000).Tom Atkins, Internet Movie Database, accessed April 14, 2011. He portrayed Detective Ray Cameron in the 1986 cult horror film Night of the Creeps, a role Atkins calls his very favorite. He tells Classic-Horror magazine "It was the most fun film I've ever worked on. It was a pure giggle from beginning to end. The director Fred Dekker was very young and very talented and he went on to do The Monster Squad afterwards. I think he wrote a terrific film that was kind of a big put-on of '50s horror. And I had great lines in that movie!" Atkins has continued to act in both the thriller and police procedural genre. He is well known to movie goers for his role as Michael Hunsaker in the Richard Donner film Lethal Weapon (1987), which stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Gary Busey. In 1993 he took a role in Striking Distance (1993) alongside Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tom Sizemore. In television, Atkins played Lt. Alex Diehl in The Rockford Files with James Garner and reprised his role of Commander Diehl for a series of Rockford Files movies during the 1990s. He is a frequent player in shows in the Pittsburgh theatre scene, most famously in the one-man show The Chief at Pittsburgh Public Theater, in which he depicted the late founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney. Also at the Public, he played the title role in Macbeth, opposite Jean Smart as Lady Macbeth and Keith Fowler as Macduff. He was the star of A Musical Christmas Carol at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, portraying the character of Ebenezer Scrooge. He appeared on Broadway in David Storey's The Changing Room, for which he received the 1973 Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer. In 2009, he had a supporting role as a retired sheriff in the remake My Bloody Valentine 3D and co-starred with Nicolas Cage in Todd Farmer's Drive Angry, in 2011; both films are directed by Patrick Lussier. Personal life Atkins' first wife was actress Garn Stephens, who appeared in Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Following the couple's divorce, he married Janis Lee Rodgers on March 15, 1986, with whom he has one child, Taylor. Filmography Film Television *''The Doctors'' - Dylan Levein (1963) *''Look Up and Live'' - Doctor (1964) *''Get Christie Love!'' - Peterson (1974) *''Rhoda'' - Vic Rhodes (1974) *''Harry O'' - Sgt. Frank Cole (5 episodes) (1974) *''Miles to Go Before I Sleep'' - O'Dell TV Movie (1975) *''The Rookies'' - Brad Gifford (1975) *''Hawaii Five-O: Season 8 episode 8, Sing a Song of Suspense'' - Koko Apaleka (1975) *''Visions'' - Robert Dayka (1976) *''Serpico'' - Lt. Tom Sullivan (16 episodes) (1976–77) *''The Rockford Files'' - Lt. Alex Diel (8 episodes) (1974–77) *''Baretta'' - Vic (1977) *''Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo'' - Buddy TV Movie (1977) *''A Death in Canaan'' - Lt. Bragdon TV Movie (1978) *''Skag'' - Dr. Moscone Pilot (1980) *''Power'' - Buck Buchanan TV Movie (1980) *''Sherlock Holmes'' - Craigin TV Movie (1981) *''Lou Grant'' - Dr. Sorenson; Jim Bronsky; Frank Durning (3 episodes) (1979–81) *''M*A*S*H'' - Major Lawrence Weems (1982) *''Desperate Lives'' - John Cameron TV Movie (1982) *''Quincy, M.E.'' - Commander Gene Butler; John Todd (2 episodes) (1982) *''Skeezer'' - Dr. Chanless TV Movie (1982) *''St. Elsewhere'' - Bob Lonnicker (1983) *''Murder Me, Murder You'' - Jack Vance TV Movie (1983) *''T. J. Hooker'' - Phil Parker/Tommy D'Amico (1984) *''The Fall Guy'' - George Spiros (1985) *''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' - Police Lieutenant (1986) *''Blind Justice'' - Kramer TV Movie (1986) *''Stingray'' - Donald Dixon (1986) *''Spenser: For Hire'' - Hatch (1986) *''A Stranger Waits'' - Sheriff Collier TV Movie (1987) *''The Equalizer'' - Detective Frank Standish (3 episodes) (1986–87) *''Lemon Sky'' - Douglas TV Series (1988) *''Dead Man Out'' - Burger TV Movie (1989) *''The Heist'' - Det. Leland TV Movie (1989) *''Against the Law'' - Walter Littlefield (1990) *''Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann'' - Jamieson TV Movie (1991) *''What She Doesn't Know'' - Roy TV Movie (1992) *''Sworn to Vengeance'' - Ed Barry TV Movie (1993) *''Walker, Texas Ranger'' - Wade Cantrell (1993) *''Fortune Hunter'' - Richard Bennett (1994) *''The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits'' - Cmdr. Alex Diehl TV Movie (1996) *''Xena: Warrior Princess'' - Atrius (1996) *''Dying to be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story'' - Henry Hart TV Movie (1996) *''Homicide: Life on the Street'' - Grenville Rawlins (1998) *''The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds ... It Leads'' - Cmdr. Alex Diehl TV Movie (1999) *''Oz'' - Mayor Wilson Lowen (2 episodes) (2003) *''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' - Mr Monahan (2003) *''The Jury'' - Boyd Kingman (2004) Self *''Halloween: 25 years of Terror'' - Video Documentary (2006) *''Just Desserts: The Making of Creepshow'' - Video Documentary (2007) *''Thrill Me!: The Making of Night of the Creeps'' - Video Documentary (2009) *''Doomed Detective: Tom Atkins on Maniac Cop'' - Video Documentary (2011) *''Stand Alone: The Making of Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' (2012) References External links * * Category:Actors from Pittsburgh Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American actors Category:21st-century American actors